Real estate veteran Al Neely has died of natural causes at the age of 64. Neely, who led the development and redevelopment of more than 20 million square feet in five major United States metropolitan areas throughout a nearly four-decade career, served as chief development officer at Archstone Apartments since 2001. He oversaw Archstone’s national development team, which currently has a multi-billion dollar pipeline.

Neely joined Charles E. Smith as vice president of development in 1989. He was promoted to his recent position after Charles E. Smith and Archstone merged in 2001. During his time at Archstone, Neely was responsible for the development and repositioning of more than 15,000 apartment units and was instrumental in creating a joint venture with Hines to redevelop the former convention center site in downtown Washington, DC – a $1 billion, 2 million-square-foot project encompassing more than fie city blocks and including seven buildings.

According to Archstone CEO Scot Sellers, Neely was a consummate professional and humble person who genuinely valued people and relationships.

A consistent award-winner, Neely was named the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties’ Developer of the Year in 1997 and the National Association of Home Builders’ Multi-Family Developer of the Year in 2001. Under his leadership, two recent Archstone developments received honors as well.

Neely previously served as executive vice president and general managing partner of the New Height Group in Denver, where he oversaw development and management of 2.5 million square feet of mixed-use properties. He earned his undergraduate degree in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Master’s degree in structural engineering from California State University.